


Cognizance and Strangeness

by wheezeitsokay



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: I am a fangirl who knows a lot but expresses very little, M/M, My first decent fic, Romance, Ryan is a confused soul, Shane is a hottie, a pretty clean fic, also, also there is a catch in the story, as usual, language is strong, other than that, slightly rooted in reality, tehee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-04-26 21:56:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14411376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheezeitsokay/pseuds/wheezeitsokay
Summary: "We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.".   ~Fyodor DostoevskySometimes... Just sometimes, the fate and the universe should decide.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first little idea which came about in my mind. Hopefully, it will not be the last. I absolutely love these two adorkable bois! However, these two people are their own persons and have their own *real* lives.... These are just some musings of a fangirl.

Ryan pressed his lips and cracked his eyes, stifling a yawn. He stared open when the first ray of sunlight entered into his room from the window directly over his head.

  
His bed was one place which Ryan couldn't bring himself to leave. He could almost envision his entire life on that bed itself. Covers and the soft pillows fluffed up under his body while he plays and tugs with the end of the blankets curling them into knots and letting it go watching the fabric crumple under his fingers. He smelled the pillow once more before exhaling deeply.

  
_The smell of fresh detergent filled his senses as he lay there contemplating._  


Ryan frequently had those phases where he would turn into a hypochondriac and a philosophical ol' grandpa wondering the forces behind the universe. In all these cases he frequently visited the thought of actually weighing the supernatural. Was it real or just a farce made to look fantastic? Well, he never knew.

He would wonder often if he one day woke up to find himself hovering over his own body. Though Ryan had nightmares and often dreamt of other worldly creatures, he believed that they existed in some corner which he wasn't sure ever came in contact with human. However, even though he could not deny his own thought he often wondered about the other side, that of the skeptic, which couldn't believe in it . He laughed at their ignorance of omitting the believer's existence and reason completely and wished he encountered one of those kinds to give them a piece of their mind. But he was sure that if he met them he would be usually quite and soft. That's the kind he was. A person with a million voices in his head but couldn't confront even one of them in real life.

While Ryan debated in his mind, in voices so diverse that he often, later in the day looked back upon those morning contemplations and wonder what exactly would people think of him if they heard all those voices in his head talk simultaneously. Maybe they will call him mad. But aren't we mad enough already?

Suddenly his head jerked up with his mobile setting of the 10 minute snooze reminder confirming him that he must get his ass back to real life and work hard to pay his bills as no director is sitting with a chair next to his bed every morning scripting his deep thoughts into slow shots for a movie.

   


   


   


After dismissing his questions as codswallop he dragged himself into the bathroom setting his coffee machine. By 9 he was heading towards his office. He just lived 5 blocks away from his office in a cheap rented apartment and preferred to walk there very morning.

   


On his way out he would, without narrowly miss stepping on the tail of his landlady's bulldog which would stare at him and elicit a low growl everytime he passed. It was the same elevator for which he had to wait half a minute and then on the 5th floor a lovely lady always entered the lift. She offered him a kind smile which Ryan shyly returned. This timing seemed the same for Ryan.

Frequently, he went down to in the elevator in the morning the lift stopped on the 5th floor and the lady entered. Ryan didn't socialise much with the people in the building. His interaction was limited to paying the rent to the landlady who lives on the same floor and offering a kind and fifty smile to the lady from the 5th floor. He never knew her name and didn't even ask. She seemed like a nice woman. Once he had caught her name as 'Kierra' or 'Kathy' or something like that when one day along with her a stocky fellow also entered the elevator and talked to her about something regarding a soap opera. Still it didn't garner much of Ryan's attention for all he knows maybe that name of 'Kierra' or 'Kathy' was one of the characters of the soap opera.

He reached office around 9:10 and took his seat at his station tracing his fingers absent- mindedly over the post-it's he had stuck to his white board the night before and mentally calculated the deadlines before switching on his PC.

"Ryan!", a voice broke his reverie as he absently let his mouse pointer hover over the files he worked on last night. He turned around to see Boris walk up to him.

"What's up?" replied Ryan raising his brow and turning around.  


   


"Well... Just here to tell you..." he trailed pushing his body against the doorframe and holding up his coffee mug to show his apparent disdain.  


   


"You know that new project?" He began.

   


"Which one? The one that boss was discussing yesterday about replacing the flop which happened recently" Ryan nodded knowing full well that a replacement was soon to come.

He was assigned last month, to work on some test videos. Ryan still couldn't figure out what kind of hopefulness led him to take up those opportunities so happily and let his creations come to life. However, when it didn't receive the fanfare it was supposed to the boss cancelled down and immediately assigned a new project to someone new. He was disappointed, of course. He didn't take much interest either in that particular task but nonetheless lacked the required optimism because he staunchly believed that the company gave him no incentive to be actually invested. He had no creative freedom or independence and rarely got his credit for the job so he worked mechanically most of the time trying to keep his accounts rather than try to be productive.

"Yeah. Got some dopey guy from the other wing I heard." Boris exhaled looking down at his cup and pressing his lips to give off a neutral expression "Sorry man! Care to catch up for lunch?" He added humbly.

  
"No... I don't think I'll be able to make it. There are quite a few deadlines to meet" Ryan lied.

   


Watching Boris's figure turn around and walk away letting Ryan have a wave of relief flush over him. He was over with human interaction at his job front. Filthy politics and appreciation of mediocrity. Don't get him wrong, he thought very well of Boris as he was a strangely nice human with a weird sense of humour to him. _Underappreciated but good._

He switched on his mobile and checked his texts. There were 2 threads in his notifications. One was from his mother which read

"Will be heading out on 28th. Grandma had sent her presents for you. Will parcel them."

He checked his calender and recollected that they were supposed to go to one of his grandmother's place for a family reunion. He had reminded his mother to inform him the final date.

   


His grandmother had sent presents for her 'Baby Ryan' whom she loved calling 'moonface'. He humored the old lady, always despite disliking the canoodling. But now it just seemed embarrassing when her cacophonous voice rang 'Moonface' everytime he entered the living room with all his relatives present, especially the younger kids snickering at him. While he mentally made a note of fueling his car on the 27th for the road trip his hand flew over to the second chat.

   


It was from a guy he had met on this app which let people chat anonymously without revealing any pictures or details. It seemed odd for Ryan Bergara, a person with a staunch resolve that no third human in the world will carry any joy or sorrow for you was wanting an emotional vent in an anonymous chatting app. Maybe because he found it better when people didn't see his face and he was elusive enough to never recreate the face of another person mentally when he opened up about his views or concerns just that... after all he never bothered about it. The numbness of existence almost caught him when he hears a small beep and looked down to see a notification of fresh new posts in the common wall of the app. He opened it and saw the guy he had rejected over a million times send him  


_"Lu u ~ xxxxx"_  


   


He didn't block that chat username. He found it amusing how a grown up man or woman or maybe a whacky 20 year old boy or girl sitting on the other hand sat there craving for instant approval and validation by sending off horribly worded messages to others. He didn't seem potentially harmful so Ryan pitied him rather than be rude to him. It was a pleasant entertainment for Ryan's evil mind when he had free evenings.

He scrolled down to see a series of posts where everyone wrote small articles on their concerned topics. Some talked of gay rights while some severely criticised the government actions about immigration. He read those articles and slowly but surely came upon a post. It read :- _"A skeptic's mind on ghost busting"_  


   


Of course the long article was not tagged with a name but the author seemed to have written extensively about doctored footage and psychological fear of the unknown for humans ( or as he would like to phrase them as 'weak- minded' and 'stupid').He used heavy terms such as phasmophobia (which Ryan later goggled to realise it was the fear of ghosts. He was surprised that he didn't know the elaborate term of such an obvious phenomenon even existed). He ended the article with something based on Caspar the friendly ghost and Scooby Doo being something childish and telling the people, who believe to be not convincing enough and to just 'fuck off' in general.  
Ryan's eyes grew wide at the sentence written in the last paragraph which read:

   


   


"... However, if anyone out there would even try to reason me out on this. Well let's hit it up sometime to ruin you spectacularly good day with some of this bright intellect..."

   


Ryan mentally smirked at himself. This person, whoever it was had to be terribly arrogant with his perspective. At least what he could've gleaned from the article that he wasn't willing to accept a counter point.

It's a really rare occasion when Ryan comes across people willing to participate in a healthy discussion but this was absolutely ignoramus to dismiss another school of thought and telling them to just 'go away' without even acknowledging their perspective. Well, someone was in a mood to mess with and someone was also in a mood to be messed with, just that Ryan was not sure who was in which position.

"Hey! Ryan"

Tara peaked at his door nervously clutching on to a load of files and papers. Her poor small frame seemed to almost topple when she managed to say " Could you spare a minute and just check whether the Xerox and printing machine is working or not? Apparently, you only seem to be the person in the office who know how to get that trap started."

She blew a strand falling on her face while Ryan helped with holding up some of the files for her. He left the room to check the machine with Tara but not without shooting a message to that person's username.  


  


  


The message was odd almost cryptical in its tone as if it was a conversation between an aged couple married for 50 years, with old children. In the dark space of Ryan Bergara's station the wall overhead was illuminated by his cellphone's light which lay there with the screen open. A chat box was on the screen with a blue message bubble having a hyperlink to an article, under an new username and a message entailing a text.

  


  


  


  


  


  


_"We need to talk about this."_


	2. Chapter 2

It was probably the 11th time in this day for Ryan to read the article and let his fingers scratch his chin with one hand and the other to scroll the cursor over every word of the article. He was sitting in his apartment's couch with his laptop and writing down his response in an entire word document to phrase his arguments.

_Already weird._

The entire day was spent by Ryan thinking about his footage which he had considered sending to the stranger. It was a footage caught on Queen Mary when he and a buch of his friends spent the night trying to document proof for ghosts. Due to some strange phenomenon they could actually gather evidence and Ryan claimed to have got his ' _eyes_ ' from then on.

It wasn't the fact that Ryan was regularly haunted but he felt deeply, almost too strongly for the existence of other entities in the universe and why wouldn't he? If everything has a possible and reasonable explanation then what about the miracles and the unforseen in everyone's lives? What about the leap of faith which must be there to have hope. Though not a stubborn believer he did entertain the possibility of something unnatural juxtaposed with the commonplace.

Tara had treated him with an iced latte after he helped her and thanked him for being kind to her. Ryan smiled and dismissed it as a part of his duty. There were two presentations which he had for tomorrow and a new crew was supposed to be there for photography. He had to give them the details in a morning conference and these he could get back to his work. After sorting his meetings out he was attached to his laptop like gum for the rest of the day. Once his co- workers Boris and Emma glanced over his shoulder to see Ryan staring intently at the computer screen which was playing a YouTube video on ghostly sighting which was apparantke 'undoctored'.

_They didn't bother to interrupt him._

Even though Ryan wasn't the most social employee he was not a bad fellow. He was helpful, kind and if you were lucky you could also catch him smiling when he agreed on something vehemently. It was a soft and a sweet smile almost like _sunshine._

That day he returned late in the night. When he looked up at his clock it was 12am. He exhaled after letting his forefinger press the full stop on his key board.

He stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes before finally re-adjusting his self on the couch. He opened his chat box in the background and let his eyes wander over the brief conversation shared between him and the stranger. The fellow had replied to his message with :

**SM112_3 :** _?_

_**RBdown17 :** _ _I believe you have quite a few opinions on 'ghost busting' but I found it offensive that you considered that all the believers have hardly any intellect to believe their point._

**Sm112_3 :** _Of course. Why? Did that offend you?_

**RBdown17** _: That's what I am saying! Its offensive. There is material proof for everything and it's not that I am trying to assert myself but do consider the opinion of the others. Thank you._

**SM112_3** : _Woah! Now you are getting pretty heated up? What's your beef,huh? I would want a proper phrasing of your argument and not just throwing at me some random belief just because you hurt yourself over the truth._  
  


Ryan hadn't replied to him. He had phrased this entire 1 and a half page long argument about his proof using the snarky language to get the better of him. Ryan was a good writer always but the company credited him few times for his good job. He attached the document along with his footage and typed the message at the end of it all :

 **RBdown17** : _Challenge accepted._

He had left behind his laptop on his coffee table as he went to his kitchen to grab a snack for himself as he was on chips and coffee the entire day. As he chewed the last bit he recollected all that he had to do. Tomorrow was a Friday and the last day of work for the gruelling week. He popped open a bottle of wine and pouring himself a drink went to the couch.

_He had received the message. A green tick appeared next to messages._

He smirked thinking that he might have shut down someone and whooped a little in his mind and later just thought that it was too childish. He looked up and it was 12:30am. It was dead late and he knew he will have trouble waking up. A notification sound grabbed his attention making hin look torwards the screen again. He had replied.

 **SM112_3** : _It's baloney._

Ryan furiously eyed the icon of the chat and  his fingers were itching to write away something aggressive when another messaged popped.

 **SM112_3** : _But you seem strong with what you believe and it's a good style of writing. You have a flair for it. Though the footage is plain bullshit._

Somewhere a part of Ryan's heart softened. As much as he wanted d a good debate with him which he childishly wanted to escalate to filthy name calling made him scoff at his juvenile sentiments. Somewhere even this person seemed to have respect and complimented him and Ryan made up his mind that he wouldn't insult him further. So he typed.

 **RBdown17** : _So we are finally on swearing terms with each other?_

 **SM112_3** : _Maybe. If you show me crap like that I am sure we are._

Ryan smiled a little and was about to write something which resembled the tone of the banter when he replied again.

 **SM112_3** : _But seriously, a good approach. I have received quite a number of angry replies on that post but few were as reasonable as you._

 **RBdown17** : _Well you sounded slightly offensive maybe that's why. However don't bother those extremists anyway._

 **SM112_3** : _Aren't you one?_

 **RBdown17** :  _Seriously? Not all of them are brutal. Stop generalising. See... This is where you go wrong. We don't belong to this club where all of us plan to plot and kill the non- believers._

 **SM112_3** : _Seems fancy though!_

 **RBdown17** : _The point is... Its good that you are vocal with your approach and opinions but you must not be absolutely dismissive about others._

 **SM112_3** : _Hmm...Sorry._

 **RBdown17** : _Did you just apologize?_

 **SM112_3** : _Don't pull it much. Apologized for my behavior in the article not for people like you all._

 **RBdown17** : _Good at least we meet somewhere in the middle_

 **SM112_3** : Yes.

Ryan switched off the laptop when he figured out that it was almost 1. He had another long day of work tomorrow and so without further ado he dimmed the lights and pulled his covers.

_Strangely, he dreamt of meeting a shadow  in a twilight field._

Something he remembered nothing of, when he woke up.

            

                          

* * *

  
  


He had to almost sprint towards his office like Usain Bolt. The talk, last night let him over sleep and the 10 minute snooze didn't work this time with his daily morning musings. He knew, the crew was supposed to report around 9:15 and he got out of his home around 9:20. He almost had his landlady's dog on his tail as he dogged and slipped his way to the elevator. The kind lady looked at his tense face and he bolted outside.

When he reached the office his hair was dishevelled and he was panting heavily. After dropping his bag and other items at the station he rushed towards the conference hall where the people he was supposed to meet, assembled. There was Boris standing near the door with their boss talking to him. As soon as Boris's eyes landed on Ryan he smiled and said "Yes..  there he is... He had to take an urgent bathroom break"

The burly boss turned around to see Ryan standing just a few feet away. He frowned and walked away eyeing the poor man up and down. As if mentally sending him the message ' _Watch it Bergara. Be careful'_

Where he was out of ear shot Ryan turned around and mouthed 'thank you' to Boris while the latter urged him to go ahead into the hall whispering, 'Thank me later for saving your ass'.

Ryan got in and the entire team sat there watching him. Ryan grew extremely nervous with all the eyes trained on him but was slightly releived with Emma sitting in the far end giving him a thumbs up and a reassuring nod. Ryan welt a wave of confidence surge back and he gave his presentation well. After having a talk with the current head of the photography team the meeting adjourned and everyone was given their specific instructions.

Emma walked up to him later and offered him a smile

"You did well! Even with turning up late"

"Yeah..  sorry about that" Ryan scratched the back of his neck.

 

"Its fine. Boris pulled some real acting there though", she giggled.

Ryan smiled. He didn't deserve them. Didn't deserve such loving and devoted friends who stuck by him.

He didn't wanted to ignore them or push them away but he really didn't find it easy opening up to them. However, that didn't seem to bother them as they relentlessly supported him throughout and Ryan wished he could be better for them.

"Ryan Bergara" a voice spoke behind him. When Ryan turned around he didn't meet a face but a black T- Shirt with the band of 'Lumineers' printed on them. He pulled his face up to see a tall and pale fellow with brown hair and sharp nose look down on him. The first though that Ryan had was

_He is humongous._

"Yes?", Ryan stuttered clearly apprehensive of the new company.

"Are you Ryan Bergara?", he spoke.

"He is", chirped Emma clearly fascinated by the new man's presence.

"Oh! Hello. I am a part of the team you just addressed and my boss told me that you will be guiding me and my friend Peter out there for the shoots", he spoke nonchalantly pointing to a guy who was walking towards them.

"Oh! You finally found the Bergara guy" said the other man who joined the first shortly. He was shorter than the first thought but blonde with blue eyes.

"I- I don't think I am supposed to do anything other than brief you." Ryan stood flustered as he looked at the two others who were equally confused.

"Bergara" shot the voice of his boss who had entered the conference. _Yet again. "_ Those boys next to you will be working with you for  this project. Show them their stations, will you?"

"But I didn't receive an e-mail for that?" Ryan quipped feeling confident for a moment that their employee policies didn't let them work on anything on-spot till they received a formal e-mail. But the joy seemed to have dissolved from his face when the burly man scowled and replied,

"Didn't you check your email last night or even in the morning? You are supposed to do that, you know. I personally sent it to you."  
  
Ryan remembered not checking the email in the flow of argument in the flow last night. It was this fault. What reason will he give to his boss

_Well... Sir, you see, I was fighting for the cause of ghosts yesterday with a stranger I met online and teaching him to stay within his limits._

Instead he only squeaked, "Sorry Sir". The boss huffed and turned around and much to Ryan's embarrassment the entire episode was witnessed by the two new dudes. Ryan could almost feel the heat rising in his cheeks and his eyes had a glazed look.

"Hey! Its okay" said the taller man suddenly. Ryan looked up and saw pressing his lips and giving him an almost sympathetic look. Like he was tending to a wounded puppy on the street. Ryan hated to acknowledge that at that time as he was pretty sure the man had a mischievous glint in his eyes. Maybe it was how he looked but he had already got on his nerves. Ryan didn't need sympathy from a stranger. He held his head up and said proudly,

"Nothing to be concerned about. Give me two minutes to check my email and I will get back to you. Please wait in the room outside. I'll meet you two shortly."

When Ryan recalled his tone on the way to his station he could almost feel that he spoke like he spit venom. He didn't wanted them to witness the entire episode and more than that he didn't want to earn sympathy from the tall fellow. _Couldn't he just shut up._

The email instructed him that the two of them were supposed to be working with Ryan on certain locations and in the office. The two were supposed to adhere to the company's policies and guidelines and it was a part of Ryan's responsibility to ensure that they do so. Blah blah blah.

"They sent our entire team to this new crew?" Boris sighed as he let his arms flail in the air as Ryan almost finished reading the email.

 

"They did?" Ryan asked furiously glaring at the screen.

"It seems so. Emma is to collaborate with their head. I am in- charge of these 6 people who look like they get high before they come to work. Seriously this is a hell hole. Especially poor Tara."

"Why? What about her?"

"She is with these shitty men and a woman who seems to just growl and snap at everything."

"You makes them sound like two angry bulldogs", Ryan snickered.

"Maybe they are." Boris rolled his eyes "By the way. If these people are planning to stay for a while then we have to get-"

"Yahoo! Boris!" sang a voice outside their wing and Ryan saw this stout lady call for his co- worker in a sing- song voice. Must be one of his members from the group he has to handle.

"Presenting to you our very own Maria Callas" he whispered in Ryan's ear and Ryan could help but laugh a little. Sure, Boris's person was a work of art.

"You have to get their name tags from the reception", Boris instructed him before he smiled and headed towards the lady at the door to receive her.

Ryan checked his mobile. It was 10 am in the morning and a long shift was due. He headed towards the waiting room where he had instructed the two men to wait. He was up there after having a talk with the receptionist.

Ryan Bergara walked down the halls with confident strides carrying the two name tags in his hand which read -

 _Peter Taylor_  
_(Photographer)_  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Shane Madej_  
_(Senior Photographer)_  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Shane is finally into the story.
> 
> I will update the next part pretty quick, just so you know.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryan watched the two people fixing their lenses from behind the glassdoors of the office kitchen. The warm mug of coffee was pressed to Ryan's lips but his eyes were strained on the two individuals in front of his cubicle fiddling with their equipment. He looked like an angry babysitter. The look which the teens have on their face when their parents give them the responsibility of looking after their siblings. The look of distraught, anger and wonder... All of it at the same time.

"Ryan looks blue already?", rang Boris's laugh. Ryan turned around to see that Boris was walking towards him with another cup of coffee in his hand.

"Nothing to be blue about." Ryan shrugged gulping the last contents of his mug.

"Yeah . Just looking at the two and wondering how they destroyed your perfect Friday morning.", smirked Boris trailing his eyes over the bent form of Shane Madej who was fitting the cables.

"Hmm" Ryan mumbled slamming his mug strongly into the counter to break the reverie of Boris's tantalizing glance over his delegated member. Even though Boris wasn't a bad person he had quite a reputation of hooking up with every other man in the office who indulged in his approaches. Ryan had absolutely no problem with Boris's immense sexual appetite but preferred to maintain a healthy and a professional distance from him. It isn't that he hadn't tried his advances on Ryan. But Ryan denied it in his own way always. _Politely._

"I should be going" Ryan spoke as he opened the door and heading towards the cubicle when Boris spoke aloud.

"A nice piece of ass you got for yourself, Bergara" he half shouted- whispered with a comical laugh. Ryan pretended as if he had not heard a word.

"Mr. Bergara!" chimed Peter as he looked up to see him walk towards them "we were wondering if we two could head towards the café for the first half of the shoot.

"Sure. Just get your equipment I'll make some calls. Also are you carrying anything for which you require a special permission?" Ryan inquired in a hurried tone, quirking one of his eyebrows up.

"Yes" the tall man replied " a damn nuclear plant. Call up the president, will you?"

Ryan stared at the fellow. A hard and cold stare with a neutral expression. He could kill someone right now. As much as he hated being unprofessional this man was crossing his limits.  Had Ryan met him in a departmental store he was sure he would have rammed a fist into his face.

 

_But this is no departmental store and he is among 500 other people who would judge him and his actions so he kept his cool._

 

Do not be unprofessional. He chanted. Just do not be unprofessional or do anything which will earn the displeasure of your boss.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then", he replied cool and offering a stiff smile to Peter as he made one last eye contact with Shane and walked out. He could hear Peter harshly mumbling something like "You shouldn't have done that'. However, he didn't react.

 

 _Damn Ryan really needs to turn around and make sure that people know that he heard them._  
  


* * *

 

 

After finally getting the permits, permissions and doing a shit ton of paperwork he finally walked to the parking lot of the company. The two photographers were already loading their equipment into one of the cars. Ryan stood at a distance watching them lift the heavy equipment. Shane effortlessly picked up one of the stands and shoved it inside and Ryan couldn't help but wonder at how strong he was for a lanky figure. He lifted the huge stand with one arm which requires at least two for him. His pale skin peeked from the gap of his gloves and jacket and Ryan stared at it intently. He had no idea why. Maybe he was staring to find where exactly all the strength came into the man with a mousy tuft of hair. He shook his head for being silly immediately. He was staring at his skin like the men would stare at the women's ankles during the Victorian times.

"Awww c'mon" nagged Shane " What's your problem?"

"I said I am not parting with this." replied Peter clutching on to the door handle of the car.

"What's the matter?" Ryan intruded looking at both of them curiously.

"Argh! Okay! Here is the thing. This man-" said Shane angrily pointing a finger at Peter who let his mouth form an animated 'o' "-doesn't know how to adjust and is bent on getting hold of his camera everytime we shoot. I told him to keep it with a rest of the equipment but he insists that he'll stay in this car with it"

"Shane! You know I worked fucking hard to get this!" he countered stiffly

"Oh! Come on! You treat it like it's your baby" he reprimanded

"It is MY BABY!," half screamed Peter.

"Okay.... " Ryan weaved in because this childish fight seemed no end. "How about we quit this and Peter with his camera joins me in the car while Shane stays with the equipment in this car?"

"Yeah I think that's fine." mumbled Peter more to himself than for the people out there.

"Okay... Now he is just spoiling you. Peter you need to get your ass into the other car with us. Leave that camera and walk" growled Shane.

"Shut up-" began Peter.

"We are getting late,", the driver chimed in.  
_Like it couldn't be better._

"Peter-" Shane's voice was icy cold now.

"Okay. That's enough", said Ryan guiding Shane to the other car with him. Even though the initial plan was for Peter to join him he just wanted matters to end. He let Shane sit first and then sat next to him closing the door.

For the first two minutes no one spoke a word as they headed to their shoot spot. Ryan had busied himself in the scenery outside when his reverie was broken by a soft but firm voice saying,

"This happens everytime."

"I am sorry? What?"

"No... Nothing. How far is the location?", replied Shane immediately diverting the topic.

"20 minutes if the traffic is just fine."

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence not knowing what exactly to tell the other.

"How long have you been working here?" asked Ryan trying to make a civil conversation.

"I got hired for this project. I am a freelancer."

"Oh!"

"What about you? You seem like the person stuck in the middle of time wrap and space for too long." smirked Shane and Ryan couldn't help but find that appealing and irritating at the same time.

"5 years"

"Ah! Long time. You seem like that kind of a fellow. An old man of habit."

Even though Ryan couldn't absolutely refute Shane he did kind of find him to be getting on his nerves. From the moment he saw him he was busy trying to make him more and more conscious of himself. But he was right. Ryan was indeed a man stuck in monotony on the other hand Shane was quite the opposite. A free bird and man with a passion and life.

"We are here" the chauffeur notified and the two stepped out of the car.

It was an old cafe with extraordinary wooden structures and an elaborate board. It was something from the 60's and the current project required them photographing this.

Peter immediately hopped from the other car and strided towards them. He was still clutching his camera and Ryan looked at him for the first time in a different light. Indeed, they were supposed to be professional but Peter was just a little kid around 23 or 24 perhaps. Ryan was almost touching 28 and he felt a paternal wave of affection overcome him for the junior one and maintain an equally distasteful approach towards the older one.

"Should we set up the equipment?" asked Peter and Shane nodded.

The two got to work while Ryan immediately emailed his boss about their progress.

 

* * *

 

 

The interior of the café was pretty old. Older than what Ryan had expected it to be.  They said that it dates from sometime around the 60's and the bricked walls had the plasters and cement coming off but it had a weird authentic vibe to it.

 

_Something very "Instagram worthy", if Ryan could put it that way._

 

The owner was a young woman around Ryan's age who wiped her hands in her apron and smiled as she walked towards them.

"Welcome gentlemen. I hear you have come to finish a project assignement from your company?," She chimed.

"You hear right madam!" replied Shane but it was only evident to Ryan that he had a subtle hint of mockery in his voice. Gods. Why was this man always filled with so much of shit?

The lady didn't seem to mind but continued speaking enthusiastically about the café and it's heritage. It was handed down to her by her grandfather and now she handled it. The café had seen several days and stood the test of time evolving over years as it served free food and even warm drinks to people in the cold. Peter had already started setting up the lights while Shane tilted his head to his left and listened with the least interested expression. Ryan nodded along, smiled and occasionally interjected with a enthusiastic "Really!" or "I see".

"Madam... I think we should start working" interrupted Shane as he lifted the camera hanging around his neck in a slight gesture when the lady was in the middle of narrating the story of how her father had almost lost the possession of this café.

"Sure. You can start here. There is a second storey too. We used to have seating arrangements there too. If you wish I could tell-"

"We will ask you. Don't worry", said Shane working up a small smile. The lady nodded and left and with a roll of eyes Shane turned around to look how Peter had arranged the chairs in the table. Ryan wondered how this guy was employed even occasionally without a PR manager for himself. While Shane may have seemed to be outright and rude Ryan seemed to think that this kind of behaviour is what prevailed in the industry.

Business meant business. Ryan was one blotch of black ink in that picturesque scenery if professionalism. He took everything at heart and thus prevented talking about it to a lot of people. He felt bad for the lady to have been rudely shut off by Shane but he couldn't help but observe the work carried out. His role was that of a facilitator... He had nothing to do with anything else.

He nestled himself in the corner of the café and watched the two at work. Shane stealthily moved from one place to another, eyes never leaving the scene of shoot and positioned his camera at various angles for the shots. Peter was more concerned with the arrangement and frequently whispered something to Shane to which at times he nodded in approval and sometimes dismissed it. It was warm inside the building so he opened his jacket and wrapped in carefully placing it on his lap while watching the street.

On the sound of footsteps he glanced up and saw the lady walk towards him with a paper cup. She smiled as she placed the cup in his table and sat down across him.

"I thought it would be absolutely no good if you came here but didn't taste our coffee."

"There was no need for it Ma'am!" Ryan said pressing the cup towards her.

"Sh! It is one the house. You are my guest."

"I must pay. This is absolutely unacceptable."

"Nonsense you are a guest here!"

"But Ma'am-"

"Bethany"

"Right. Bethany"

Ryan let her name roll on his tongue and she smiled once more. He hesitantly wrapped his fingers and sipped the warm beverage making his throat feel better and giving her a look of gratitude.

"I must say it's truly a good taste."

"I am glad you liked it. These Starbucks and other commercial chains have absolutely capitalized on this beverage. Like hell." she quipped after pulling her curly hair back into a small ponytail.  
Ryan hummed in response. Slightly guilty that he frequently drank form that coffee  chain.  
"Want to go upstairs? Its a better view there. The gentleman didn't want to go", she remakes  shrugging toward the place where the two men were still taking the pictures.

Was it only him who was understanding all the shitty sarcasm hitting back and forth in this place?

 

_Damn. Ryan needs to stop being the spectator everytime._

 

He joined her on a rusty staircase which spiralled outside the café and led himself to a larger hall than the one in the last place. It was desolate though. Only thing existing was a skeleton of a structure of a counter. No chairs. No tables.

Ryan walked over to one of the large windows which had a glass and the sun filtered through there. He thought it might be colder because of the damp but surprisingly it was warm near the window where he perched on the base of the window, having a slab like structure looking down at the street.

"Ryan, isn't it?"

He was taken aback for a slight second. It was strange so as to how she knew his name but then it immediately hit Ryan that she must have been informed. He nodded.

She sat down next to him on the window base and stared out too. Ryan quietly shifted back until his back hit the edge of the window and slowly relaxed.

"So you accompany these men always?" she inquired.

"No. It is a temporary project."

"Ah! I see... You live far away from here?"

"Yes... With the traffic and all it does make itself cumbersome but actually it's just a twenty minute drive", he said drinking the coffee which he had carried with himself. He still had not made eye contact with her. But he could almost feel her gaze upon him. Ryan felt weird in close situations, at least with strangers and now when it was just the two of them. He slightly broke into a sweat upon mentally judging her closeness to him. Thankfully she didn't say anything immediately but said something dreamily after sometime.

"You have wonderful eyes, you know?"

Ryan gulped as he stared at her. She had pressed her head against the glass and peered at him. Ryan didn't want himself in this kind of situation so he quietly muttered a 'thank you' and gulped the rest of the coffee in one shot.The beverage burnt his tongue.

"No! You really do. You have such amazing and wonderful big eyes."

Ryan smiled weakly but she was close. So damn close. Her brown hair bounced slightly and her lips closer to his face than he had expected. Ryan backed down his nails digging into the worn cement of the wall while she flung her hand to catch his wrist.

"You have wonderful eyes... Ryan," she let his name roll gently but seductively and Ryan shut his eye trying to block out every sense of his.

"Ryan!"

Bethany suddenly sprung back as if hit by a lightning and Ryan was never  thought that he would be this relieved on hearing Shane's voice. Shane reached the platform and entered the second storey. He suspiciously eyed Bethany  with her cheeks turned pink and Ryan almost sitting on the edge.

"Peter wanted to ask if he could borrow something from your counter for a shoot. Care to see what exactly he wants?" Shane spoke. His tone quieter than usual and less sarcastic. She nodded quickly and hurried downstairs letting her fingers run through her hair one last time.

Shane didn't look at Ryan with a questioning look but most definitively a suspicious look. Ryan had visibly relaxed after the lady left and settled himself easier on the base. He looked outside. Trying to avoid Shane and even Bethany's previous act. After taking a deep breath he was just about to get up when Shane's voice rang.

"Hold on! Just a minute!", he told him.  
Ryan sat dumbfounded giving him a 'why' look.

"Just do your thing. Watch outside the window like you were like a while ago."

Ryan opened his mouth as if to scold him and question him on why he wants to take his picture but Shane was quicker.

"Listen... I am seriously not interested in taking your picture. The lighting here is fine and we photographers always take a few mock shots before our final ones. So just sit there... I want to see how the subject looks with that background. I will delete it. Chill."

Ryan's face formed a small 'o' and he quickly and mentally found it stupid to think of anything else. He resumed his composure and looked outside. Anything to distract him now. After being almost half in the arms of Bethany and Shane walking up to find him flustered... Well... probably the best thing he could do now was to stare outside the window. _Perhaps better. He could jump out of it._

He heard the click and turned around to see Shane squint at the photo on his digital display. After a while he smiled. A really small but genuine smile.

"Great!", he muttered "Peter... We can bring the rest of the equipment here. The lighting here is really good." He turned to fiddle with his camera more. Probably deleting the picture.

Ryan gathered the jacket and the coffee. He planned on walking back and sitting in the car. He didn't feel like sitting in the café anymore. He walked past Shane and then went downstairs to see Bethany trying to make herself look busy. He didn't wish her goodbye. He straight walked out and sat inside the car. Despite the cold he felt warm and slightly nauseous. He hit his head against the headrest and closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't figure that he was this tired and was surprised when sleep came so easily to him.

 

* * *

 

Shane had set up the reflector in the position and Peter was taking the pictures of the old typewriter he had found. Shane looked at his camera and saw the picture he last took. The picture of Ryan with his eyes peering at the horizon. He let his hand hover over the delete button with his mouth slightly open. Contemplating. Wondering whether he should keep it or just delete it.

After a while, he switched the camera off saving the last shot he took of the man basking in a winter sun.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I said... It would be quick. However, the next is still in the process. I am right now facing a crisis with entrances and competitive exams. However, I promise you all... I shall return.I have chalked the story till the end so don't worry.
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated.  
> Please validate me in this time of crisis. XD


	4. Chapter 4

_Monday morning_

 

 

Tara had complained once more and whined in front of Ryan that the printer wasn't working again. He tried his best to avoid it and focus on his computer but a persistent Tara was too much. Finally he gave in and left with an angry huff.

 

Shane had comfortably flopped down on the couch which was just next to the station of Ryan and looked up from his camera to notice that Ryan was striding fast until he bumped his knee in the corner desk and yelped in pain and Shane couldn't help but elicit a sudden laugh.

"Watch where you are going, man!"

Ryan's face was red as he turned furiously at Shane, now because the pain worsened. He clutched onto his knees with one of his hands and the other clutched the desk for support.

_Ryan would've shown a middle finger to him if he wasn't in so much of pain. But then he re- considered it thinking how juvenile it would've looked._

"Ryan's all red, already?," joked Boris who was following him up too and Shane laughed even more.

"Looks like Ryan has already seen a ghost!"

Ryan absent mindedly looked at the two then merely walked off with a slight limp. The passing comments faded into the background noise as he cranked up the machine and slowly felt his knee. It was slightly swollen to from a bump. The machine elicited a small static noise and then began printing almost instantly, as if all it was waiting for was a touch from Ryan. After getting the copies done he turned around to go back when his knees buckled, again.

_Okay... So the bump wasn't going to be easy._

Ryan exhaled and quietly closed his eyes to gather up his strength and take another step forward and walk.

_Nope. Not happening._

He had began to sweat by now. The pain shot through his leg and it almost felt like he could melt into a small puddle. His stomach was beginning to feel slightly queasy and his eyes had a glazed look.

_It truly looked like he had seen a ghost._

Shane looked over at him from his couch and suddenly joked about it to Boris from which all Ryan could gather was "Sherlock Holmes... 1945... Limping ghost" and a loud booming laugh from the other man followed.

_Ryan could kill someone now, if only his knees didn't pain this much._

Shane's eyes, after a good laugh glanced at Ryan only to realise that joking wouldn't help him after all. Boris was in the middle of another joke when Shane dropped his laptop om the couch on which he was working and strided towards Ryan.

"You cool there?". Shane had already walked up pretty close to Ryan and was now towering over his small frame which was clutching the knee.

"Do I look _cool_?", spat Ryan like he was spewing venom. He could not distinguish, why he assumed that tone, out of pain or out of the slight insecurity which he was having mentally when Shane looked at his poor and wrecked form like that. _Like that._

Shane backed off immediately and stood still a little distance with a guarded expression. There wasn't even an ounce of mirth in his eyes anymore. Only concern. The pain shot up through his legs once more and Ryan could no longer keep his balance with his good leg. Before his ass hit the ground he felt a pair of long but strong arms go around his waist and the other around his shoulder. The moment was perfectly captured with Shane's slight 'oomph' as the sudden weight of Ryan fell on his hands. Ryan gripped Shane's shoulders almost involuntarily and closed his eyes.

_Yep. A perfect mixture of fear and embarrassment._

Ryan wished  the floor would just open up and swallow him but even Shane was half bent on the floor trying to keep up with their balances.  _Okay, so maybe, the floor shouldn't open after all._

 

"It fucking hurts right?" Shane managed to breathe out and Ryan turned red. Of course it hurt. What did he think he was doing? Putting up a show and pretending to be the damsel?

"No... Shane... I merely wanted you to fucking embrace me while sitting on the damn floor."

 

" _Great! So now we are on swearing terms_."

 

Ryan frowned at him, but nothing struck him exclusively. It seemed familiar but he let it drop when Emma found both of them.

"Gosh! Guys!", She whisper- screamed.

"Ryan's knees wanted to give in, you know", Shane struggled to speak as he kept the balance of Ryan.

"Ryan!"

"What? I hit my knee and now it seems like it has a very bad sprain. I don't think I can even stand up", Ryan complained back like he was the younger brother who was caught up in a foul play of the elder.

"Oh! Okay... Should I call the resident paramedic?", Emma sounded tense now upon seeing how nervous and sweaty Ryan was becoming.

"Just set me down on the couch. I will be fine", Ryan had propped himself on the elbows and was now in a position. Half leaning on Shane.

"Yeah. Might need some help."Shane strongly heaved an arm and with his leftover strength pulled Ryan up. Emma, had called Boris over and they both helped Ryan up to the couch where Shane was working. Boris offered to clean up the leftover things at the couch and Shane carefully made him sit down. He gently lifted his leg and placed it in the couch.

Ryan would've found this to be the most romantic thing on earth if only it wasn't with such a pain and _maybe_ if it wasn't Shane who had been snarky and sarcastic. However, he felt safer when he quietly helped him up. Ryan was now sprawled on the couch, muttering in pain while the rest of the office surrounded him.

_Now, he was feeling more nervous than ever._

He didn't want to confront the entire office and then explain what exactly happened. Maybe people will judge him? Maybe they will not. But doesn't everyone know him already? But will that stop them from judging him?

Unaware, he could feel his cheeks turning hotter. If he was having another anxiety attack he could freak out now. He peered at them, his eyes blurry even though he had no tears. His knee was paining the most now.

For some reason it was only Shane who understood his misery for that time.

"Back off you all. Will ya? I think he needs air!"

The office people stepped back. Boris held Ryan's shoulder as he barked, "Get back all of you. Our boy Bergara just got a little woozy here. Nothing to see,"

Everyone in hushed whispers quietly shuffled back to their own work. Ryan held on to Boris and took a big gulp, he felt oddly vulnerable. Like he had no control over his feelings. Shane disappeared for a moment and then returned with a cushion. He gently lifted Ryan's knees once more and propped the cushion underneath it.

"Better?", he inquired, his voice almost tender, bordering towards loving.

"Yeah!", Ryan exhaled. The doctor had reached by then and examined his leg. He told it that it wasn't bad but there was a ligament strain, which is why it had swelled. He advised him to rest as much as possible and to not to work in the normal sitting position. Emma helped Ryan change into a shorts so that she could put some icepacks over them. He felt sick even looking at his knees now. There was a bump and the skin was reddish with a sense of numbness from the ice. He thought it was hyperlaxity but fortunately it wasn't when he passed the thumb test. He slouched on the sofa while Emma went out to pack his trousers so that he could carry them home.  The air was pretty cold but he still felt hot.

"Want to loosen the tie a bit?", Shane inquired.

 

"Yeah. I think I will."

  
Shane nudged forward to get hold of his tie and listen it but suddenly stopped on seeing Ryan give him a big frown.

"I am sure Shane that my knees are not good but my hands are just fine."

Shane leaned back as if suddenly aware of what he did. Ryan loosed his tie and opened a button of his shirt to relax a little.

"I think this is where you need to spend the rest of your week working.",laughed Peter as he handed him over some water..

"Nah! I think I will be back in a few days. Its just a little thing"

"Little thing!",sarcastically prodded Emma who was like a half mother to Ryan, "Have you seen the swelling size. It will take time"

"Do something", Shane interjected. He went to Ryan's desk and started gathering everything.

"Shane, put-"

He had already pulled everything and dumped it on the desk near Ryan. He had a goofy grin on his face and started carrying his stuff to Ryan's station. Ryan would've stopped him but well... He had to get up for that.

"We switch places." Shane nodded affirmatively. "That way you can carry out your task and I can carry out mine".

"My entire work is on the PC? How am I supposed to work without that?"

"We can give you the laptop." Peter had already begun to help Shane clear  the desk. Ryan slumped back feeling defeated. He knew he can't delay his work. He has to carry on, plus he is on leave for this weekend. Peter had settled down to get all his data in his laptop while Ryan was telling them, periodically, on where they would find the necessary things.

For the first time Ryan felt that truly his delegation was slowly turning from a mere responsibility to mutual respect. Sure, he loathed Shane for his utterly stupid things but they were both helpful. Especially, Peter who was always encouraging him with a smile. For the first time he didn't think of this job as a burden but as a duty done out of mutual respect. However, as he said before, Peter was the good one and Shane had to ruin his perfect moment of reverie.

 

 

"Moonface?"

 

"What!", Ryan's neck craned up to see what exactly hinted Shane of his pet name and rightfully so he saw the tall man holding a handkerchief with the word 'Moonface' embroidered with blue in the corner.

"Give that back, Madej," Ryan's voice was slow and cautious

"Oh! Is that your pet name?",Shane was bouncing the handkerchief up and down and Ryan could punch him. _Right now._

"Madej, I want it here", said Ryan putting his palm out and Shane like a toddler merely laughed and said

"I think it's adorable. Who calls you that?"

"No one"

"Girlfriend?"

"What- Shut up!"

"Yeah you are right, this doesn't call for someone of this day... I think it's your-" Shane stretched the 'r' making a face and finally chirped

"Its your grandmom!"

"Shane-"

"Wow! The tough Ry guy is called 'Moonface. What else? She sings lullabies too?"

"Shane. I SAID KEEP IT AWAY!", Ryan subconsciously kept his injured keg down and tried getting up only to fall back. _Hurt._

Tears came to his eyes with the pain and he clutched it tightly. Shane'a voice ceased to tease him, instead he was down once more. Pushing him back and picking his leg.

Ryan angrily jerked his leg away from his grip turning away from him. Shane slid back and sat on the end if the couch.

"Are you okay?"

"You have already done the harm twice already. That too in a day. You want something more then go ahead." Ryan was speaking with gritted teeth and it almost hurt Shane because his face turned quickly from shock to sadness.

"I guess I am sorry", he mumbled.

"You 'guess'? Really?",

Shane got up and left. And Ryan was glad that he did. He was confused by Shane's activities. One moment he was helping him and the next he was making fun and irritating him putting him on the edge. He never denied that Shane wasn't a good looking man. He was. With his brown hair and sharp nose and lovely eyes, he found him to be pretty attractive. But Ryan had his own self respect. He didn't want to give into everything for his mere good looks and _really_ tall self. Ryan knew he had a thing for tall men and dated some during his college years but none were as tall as Shane.

_Its only sometimes that Ryan feels that had he met some people in a bar instead of the workplace he would've made something better out of them._

* * *

 

 

"Hey! Ryan!", Boris' voice slightly shook him. Ryan had fallen asleep on the couch. He remembered catching a wink after mailing today's assignment to his boss. He almost lost track of time and now he was sitting in a half- lit office with only Boris peering at him with big eyes.

"Would you be able to walk buddy?", Boris asked, his voice soft, as if he was afraid it might break Ryan.

"Yeah. I will take a cab home", Ryan tried to sit up and get his things in his bag only to find that it had already been done. He looked up at Boris with a surprised look only to find him smiling sheepishly.

"Shane did it before he left"

"Ah!"  _He spoke nothing else._

Ryan limped a little and walked down where Boris helped him into the cab. He slowly but painfully made his way to his apartment and surprisingly even his landowner's dog was missing. _Well good for him._

After getting fresh and eating some cereal, Ryan felt better. He slowly pulled his covers and tucked himself in. He was early to bed today. He stared at his ceiling and thought that he might just watch a movie but even the thought of waking up tired him. He looked outside the window listening to the cars passing by in the distance. He tried sleeping but he gave up trying after a while.

Finally, he did something he had never done after his college years. He picked up his phone and after carefully propping up pillows under his leg and back he opened the app and typed under the chathead of _SM112_3_

"Are you up? I am sorry if it bothers you but I have been really thinking about the Keddie Cabin murder case?"

 

 

Ryan quickly flopped the phone next to him slapping his fist to his forehead. _Shit! What had he done. Now I actually look so clingy._

The mobile buzzed in response within a few seconds and like a teenage girl checking if her crush texted back or not, Ryan quickly typed his password and saw the message.

_Bring it on._  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I did it. 
> 
> Expect at the most one more chapter this month. I will be back on July with regular updates. Also, comments and kudos are appreciated. You know the usuals. ;)


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